United Fruit Co. Company Poem Summary, Analysis & Exercise
The poem United Fruit Company is considered as a social protest, and the protest topic is the history of the inhumane doing of “The United Fruit Co...
United Fruit Co. Company Poem Summary, Analysis & Exercise
Introduction and Origin “ The United Fruit Company,” originally titled “La United Fruit Co,” was published in Spanish in 1950 and later translated into English. Written by the great Spanish poet and writer Pablo Neruda (born Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto), the poem serves as a powerful social protest. Neruda, known to be a tall, shy, and lonesome person, used a pen name because his father discouraged his writing. The poem is a reflection on Latin American countries during the early and mid-20th centuries, following a wave of imperialism by international corporations such as Coca-Cola, the Anaconda Mining Company, and Ford Motors. The "Banana Republics": This term was coined by American writer O. Henry to refer to the backward Latin American countries whose governments had been taken over by dictators supported by U.S. multinationals. The United Fruit Company established the most significant political and economic influence in this region.
The poem became a "swan s…